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Android 18
is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. She makes her debut in "The Androids Awake!", the 155th chapter of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga, issued on March 10, 1992. She makes her first animated appearance in "Nightmare Comes True", the 133rd episode of Dragon Ball Z, which premiered on April 8, 1992. Dr. Gero's eighteenth creation, Android 18 was designed to serve Gero's vendetta against Goku, who overthrew the Red Ribbon Army as a child. While her interests do not deviate from this expectation, Android 18's curiosity to activate Android 16 in spite of Gero's orders not to do so lead Android 17 to take it upon himself to murder Gero (although in each timeline of the series alternate to the mainstream one, Gero is still killed by 17 despite there being no quarrel over 16, whom the androids have no interest in activating). Biography Android 18 is the second android designed by Dr. Gero to be created by fitting a human being with cybernetics. As a mortal woman, she and her unnamed brother (the eventual Android 17) were runaways whom Gero kidnapped and conducted experiments on, resulting in their transformation into cyborgs. However, her ability to procreate was not impeded by these experiments, as evidenced by her giving birth to a healthy daughter, Marron. Gero's blueprints for Android 17 in Funimation's dub of the Imperfect Cell Saga suggest otherwise however, instead citing that 17 and 18 "are made up of organic substances padded after human cells." Initially cool and confident, 18's sarcastic humor later becomes the most striking trait of her personality. One example of her sarcasm is demonstrated when she is asked if her real name is legitimately "No. 18", to which she responds, "My father was pretty dull." Shortly before this conversation at the World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku takes notice of her assembly with the Z Fighters, leading to the retort, "Look, he noticed. How cute." Android 18's birth name is never revealed, and following her allegiance to the Z Fighters after the defeat of Super Perfect Cell, she is referred to as simply "18". Android 18 and Krillin When Krillin first meets Android 18 he is very attracted to her, even though she is heartless and is willing to destroy any obstacles impeding her progress of assassinating Krillin's best friend, Goku. During an encounter on a highway after she and her brother nearly kill the Z Fighters, 18 kisses the terrified Krillin on the cheek after he tries to persuade them to drop their search for Goku. This is when Krillin begins to fall in love with her. After Semi-Perfect Cell arrives, Krillin refuses to engage her self-destruct device, which would have destroyed her, in spite of the serious threat that could result in Cell's perfection posed by 18 being alive. Because of this, Semi-Perfect Cell eventually absorbs her and reaches his ultimate power, but Perfect Cell becomes overpowered by Gohan, and regurgitates Android 18. Krillin immediately comes to her side and tends to her for the duration of the battle. When Super Perfect Cell is defeated, Krillin uses the Dragon Balls to make a wish to Shenron that Android 18 and Android 17 would be restored their complete humanity, but when Shenron is unable to grant his request, Krillin takes the opportunity to wish self-destruct devices within 18 and 17 be removed. Krillin pursues Android 18 and he and 18 eventually have a child together, a daughter named Marron. At the the World Martial Arts Tournament during the World Tournament Saga, Krillin dispels to Goku the misconception that 18 is a pure android and therefore could not have a child, explaining that 18 was originally human but was just "remodeled . . . a little bit" by Dr. Gero, making her a cyborg (Future Trunks appropriately refers to she and 17 as such during the Trunks Saga, as well). Android 18 is too artificial to age, thus leaving her with the same appearance from the Androids Saga through the Kid Buu Saga, with the exception of a haircut. 18's destructive personality significantly fades following the Cell Games, and she comes to be accepted as a member of the core group of characters, particularly after she and Krillin marry and have a daughter. Although Android 18 is a loving wife and mother (she is still somewhat harsh to Krillin, however this is typical of the married couples in Dragon Ball, as both Chi-Chi and Bulma have been known to treat their husbands in a similar manner), she sometimes displays her frightening and unpredictable nature towards others, particularly Master Roshi or Mr. Satan. Future timelines In an alternate timeline possibly adjacent to the events of Dragon Ball GT in the mainstream Dragon Ball timeline, Android 18 and Android 17 are unequaled mass murderers who have reduced human civilization to shambles. Gohan is the last of the original Z Fighters not killed by the androids left to hold his own (although a handful of characters who supported the group, including Master Roshi, Bulma and Chi-Chi, have also managed to take refuge). As the years pass, it becomes obvious that Gohan and Trunks are the only martial artists left capable of fighting the androids, however, no conceivable advantage for them arises and Gohan is eventually killed. In the second alternate timeline to merge with the mainstream one, Trunks successfully shuts down androids 18 and 17 using a remote control, but is killed by Imperfect Cell, who then uses Trunks' time machine to travel to the past, where he sheds his larval exoskeleton leaving it to be discovered at the end of the Androids Saga. Trunks, whose visits to the time in his past (the main plot of the series) constitute the first alternate timeline to merge with the mainstream one, returns to his time after the destruction of Super-Perfect Cell by Gohan, and ultimately vanquishes both androids 17 and 18, as well as Imperfect Cell, with the power he gains from his training with Vegeta. For unknown reasons, the mainstream androids are stronger than their future timeline counterparts. The plausible explanation of differences between power and personality could stem from the changes of the androids' intent when Dr. Gero created them. In Future Trunks' timeline, Goku dies from a viral heart disease six months before the androids first appear. When Trunks battles the androids in The History of Trunks, Android 18 and Android 17 reveal they were "created for world domination." Upon hearing the news of Goku's death, Gero stopped augmenting his android assassins and turned them into world domination machines (but couldn't correct their individuality in any timeline). In the mainstream timeline, since Goku never assumes Super Saiyan transformation to defeat Frieza and King Cold, thus burning a significant amount of ki, the virus doesn't attack until much later (as explained by Vegeta during the fight with Android 19). However with Goku's survival, Dr. Gero follows through with augmenting his own android powers, whereas in future timelines this would not have been necessary with Goku already dead. A third alternative may be that the androids of the mainstream timeline merely exert themselves more than the androids of the future, so as to cope with the more powerful Z Fighters, giving the impression that androids 17 and 18 are weaker in the future timeline than the mainstream one. After the death of Super Perfect Cell, Future Trunks returns to his timeline and destroys androids 17 and 18 with the power he achieves training with Vegeta in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, ending their years of devastating the planet. Joining the Z Fighters Later in the series, Android 18 is matched against Mr. Satan in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Not interested in the attention that becoming tournament champion (and in addition, prevailing over Satan, who Satan City are generally under the impression is the most powerful martial artist alive), 18 allows Mr. Satan to defeat her and retain his somewhat misappropriated title, provided that he reimburses her an amount of money greater than the prize money that he would be receiving as tournament champion. The same day however, Android 18 is killed, along with her family, by Super Buu, who turns her into chocolate and eats her (interestingly making this the second time that she is ingested by a supervillain in Dragon Ball). Her life is restored through a wish from Shenron, and she later supplies Goku with her energy to fuel a Spirit Bomb, in an effort to defeat Kid Buu. Though peace has returned, Android 18 still maintains a cool and distant attitude toward Goku, as she was originally "created" to kill him, but she still can't resist smiling when Goku returns and has a tearful reunion with his family, showing a softer side to her personality. Possession, and the return of Android 17 In her first appearance in Dragon Ball GT, Android 18 is a servant of Baby. During the battle between Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Baby Vegeta, she, Krillin, and Marron are caught in the destruction of Satan City by Baby's Super Galick Gun. However, all of them appear to have avoided the blast. She is cured with the Sacred Water. 18 later appears in the city with her family, until Android 17 attacks. 17 attempts to control her, however Krillin intervenes, pointing out that 18 is now married and has a child. He also reminds Android 17 that he killed Dr. Gero himself, but 17's Machine Mutant counterpart, Hell Fighter 17, contacts him and regains control, causing him to kill Krillin. Krillin's death brings Android 18 back to reality causing her to attack her brother. Seeing what he's done, 17 then targets Marron so he can gain full control of 18, but 18 defends her from 17's energy wave, leaving her in a critical condition. Android 17 flies off to merge with Hell Fighter 17, and 18 crawls over to Krillin, taking his hand as she appears to die with him. Later during the Super 17 Saga however, 18 reappears, and in an attempt to avenge her husband's death, she joins Goku in the struggle against Super 17. In her last appearance in the anime, Android 18 is seen at the Capsule Corporation accompanied by Bulma, Chi-Chi, Videl, and her daughter, Marron. There is some debate as to whether or not Android 18 and her brother are still alive 100 years after the events of Dragon Ball GT (particularly during the time of the 64th World Marital Arts Tournament and the events of the special A Hero's Legacy). While Dr. Gero states that the process of reconfiguring the siblings into cyborgs has made the two immortal,Dragon Ball manga. Vol. 29, #349 ("The Androids Awake!")Dragon Ball Z. Androids Saga, #133/118 ("Nightmare Comes True") Dr. Gero: "Yes. Now I have eternal life like you." this is contradicted by the special A Hero's Legacy, where it is narrated that Pan is the only character remaining from the generation of the original Z Fighters. It should be noted however that because most Toei productions besides the anime are non-canon, and Dragon Ball GT itself was not based on the work of series founder Akira Toriyama, the canonicity of Dragon Ball GT material is debatable, especially when contradicted by Toriyama's work. Special abilities * An unnamed energy wave similar in execution to the Masenko, which Future Android 18 uses against Future Trunks in The History of Trunks special. * Destructo Disk, a powerful razor-sharp disk of ki capable of slicing through nearly any opponent. This is the signature technique of her husband Krillin, who more than likely taught it to her, although further analysis shows that her Destructo Disk would be fundamentally different from the typical technique, as Android 18 should not have the ability to manifest ki. * Android Barrier, a technique where energy is thrust out from the body in the form of a barrier with great force. It is called the Android Barrier in the ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' video game series. * Energy Mine, one of Android 18's strong energy waves and ultimate attacks in Supersonic Warriors 2. She fires a concentrated, yellow sphere of energy, which after a few seconds results in an explosion inflicting heavy damage. * Flight, the ability to fly without the use of ki. * Power Blitz, a strong energy wave fired from the palm of her hand. It can be launched as a single energy wave, concentrated into a ball of ki or volleyed in a rapid barrage of energy waves called the Infinity Bullet. Android 18 debuts this technique with the concentrated method, while struggling not to be absorbed by Cell. Future Android 18 uses the energy wave and Infinity Bullet methods many times before being killed by Future Trunks. This is the signature finishing move for androids 18 and 17 in the ''Budokai'' video game series. A similar technique called the Photon Blitz also appears in the video game Supersonic Warriors 2 Power As a cyborg, Android 18 is extremely powerful, able to easily overpower even the typical Super Saiyan. This is first demonstrated when she fights Super Saiyan Vegeta during the highway sequence, and is able to break his arm with a single kick and walk away almost completely unscathed, save her clothes which have been burned by Vegeta's ''ki attacks. Her replacement clothing is what visually separates Android 18 from her future timeline counterpart. 18 has also shown that she can hold her own against two Super Saiyans simultaneously, when both Trunks and Goten, who in Dragon Ball Z disguise themselves as Mighty Mask to fight in the adult division of the World Martial Arts Tournament, continue trying to fight her even after she exposes them. Android 18 is also purported to be the strongest female character in the series. Some might argue that this respect goes to Pan or Oceanus Shenron, however Pan fails to achieve even the power of a typical Super Saiyan by the conclusion of Dragon Ball GT (although it is unclear if she becomes stronger during the 100 years that pass in the series' final episode) and Oceanus Shenron was defeated by Pan in the anime. Despite the combat advantages entailed by being an android, 18 is inadept against even Cell's imperfect form. When in his semi-perfect form, Cell is trounced by Ascended Super Saiyan Vegeta, while Full-Power Super Saiyan Goku ranks evenly against Perfect Cell without using half of his potential. This helps to pinpoint Android 18's strength as easily matching up to an opponent with the power and control of an inexperienced Super Saiyan. This indicates that she could outmatch Frieza, Cooler and King Cold, who were each overpowered by untrained Super Saiyans. In the film Bio-Broly, it can be seen that 18 is no match for Bio-Broly, which is reasonable as Bio-Broly is the clone of a character much stronger than either Semi-Perfect Cell or an Ascended Super Saiyan. Based on this, it can be assessed that Android 18 is stronger than an untrained Super Saiyan but weaker than a mastered one, and is almost equal to Android 17, but is substantially weaker than Android 16, Semi-Perfect Cell or any Super Saiyan transformation beyond the first. Android 18 is fitted with a device that gives her a continuous and virtually infinite energy supply. This prevents her from becoming exhausted while fighting, and augments her power enough to make her a formidable opponent even for any of the surviving Saiyans. A skill which she shares with other android models is the ability to go undetected by ki signatures, as her power is substantiated by mechanics. Other appearances Android 18 makes her first playable appearance in a Dragon Ball video game spin-off in Buyū Retsuden. She has since featured in a number of video games, which are Ultimate Battle 22, Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle, Legendary Super Warriors, all six installments of the ''Budokai '' series, Supersonic Warriors, all three installments of the ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' series, Supersonic Warriors 2, Super Dragon Ball Z, Burst Limit and Infinite World. It is shown in the video game Shin Budokai when Android 18 uses the Dragon Balls that she wishes for her humanity to be restored, a wish which Shenron cannot grant. She goes on to wish for Krillin to become an android, although Shenron cannot grant this wish either. Voice actors * Japanese dub: Miki Itō * Funimation dub: Meredith McCoy References Category:Artificial humans Category:Characters Category:Characters who can fly Category:Dragon Ball GT Category:Dragon Ball Z Category:Females Category:Tournament Fighters Category:Villains Category:Z Fighters es:Androide 18